Short Interest in Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR) Decreases By 21.3%

Atyr PHARMA INC (NASDAQ:ATYR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a decrease of 21.3% from the September 30th total of 1,360,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 684,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Atyr PHARMA Price Performance

Atyr PHARMA stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $3.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,312,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 557,782. Atyr PHARMA has a 52-week low of $1.08 and a 52-week high of $3.54. The firm has a market cap of $228.77 million, a P/E ratio of -3.67 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 7.63, a quick ratio of 7.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock's 50 day moving average is $2.08.

Atyr PHARMA (NASDAQ:ATYR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.01. As a group, analysts forecast that Atyr PHARMA will post -0.91 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Friday, October 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Atyr PHARMA in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Atyr PHARMA in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

About Atyr PHARMA

aTyr Pharma, Inc, a biotherapeutics company, engages in the discovery and development of medicines based on novel immunological pathways in the United States. Its lead therapeutic candidate is efzofitimod, a selective modulator of NRP2 that is in Phase III clinical trial for pulmonary sarcoidosis; and in Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for treatment of other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), such as chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis and connective tissue disease related ILD.